John h



(Model.)

. J. H. PATTERSON.

GAR GOUPLING.

No. 257,974. Patented May 16, 1882.

mit free movement of link.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. PATTERSON, OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY.

CAR-COUPLING.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 257,974, dated May16, 188.2.

Application llcd February 28, 1882. (Model.)

To all 'whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. PATTERSON, an officer in the army of theUnited States, stationed at and residing at the military post of FortWallace, Kansas, have invented a new and useful Safety Car-Coupler, ofwhich the following is a specification'. y

Figure lis a perspective view ot' the complete device; Fig. 2, a similarview of link to` be used with it.

My invention relates to improvements in carcouplers whereby the presentnecessity of trainmen remaining between the cars whenmaking couplings isobviated. I attain this object by the mechanical means which a view ofaccompanying drawings and model willmake plain, claiming for thisinvention simplicity `of construction, durability, and trilling cost.

I describe my invention as consisting of a link-prop, A, a pinprop, B, asteadier, O, and a closed link, D-i. e., one with pinhole at 011e end.The ofce of thelink-prop is to main tain the link a little above ahorizontal line' when extended for entering draw-head other than the oneto which it is attached. The purpose ofthe pin-prop is to maintain thepin in a vertical position, the point of pin just entering pinhole.Itremains in this position until forced backby pressureonitsaccompanyinglink-prop. The size of the link-prop is conditionalonly upon the size of the draw-head to which it is to be attached. Thesize ofthe pin-prop the sain e, though the distance ofits cross-barabove top ot` draw-head depends upon the length of pin from flangetopoint. The purpose ofthe steadieris to hold head ofpin from being drawnover by pin-prop when it is forced back, lthus insuring a verticaldropping of the pin. The link is closed at one endthat is, with simplypin-hole through it, the hole in link large enough to ad- The purposeot' this form of link is tovprevent link from being forced backwhere thefriction in en tering drawhead other than the one where it is alreadymade. fast is sutlcient to overcome the inertiaof the link.

The details of the act of coupling I thus describe: One end of the linkbeing already pinned, the link-prop is drawn up and the link, drawn outto its full extent, placed upon it. The link projects far enough beyondits link-prop to pass pin-hole in draw-head, where it is to enter4before pin drops, the direction of the link being just above thehorizontal line. It often happens that the draw-heads are not upon thesame horizontal line. In such case the linkis first inserted and pinnedin the higher drawhead. The link resting on bottom of drawhead a, towhich it is made fast, will enter opposite draw-head, b, anywhere frombottom to top, according to height of bottom of drawhead a above bottomot' draw-head b. When the bottom of one draw-head is above the topot'its opposite, then of course the coupling cannot' be made with thestraight link-aI contingency not likely to occur, cars now being madeofa standard height. The pin-prop on the car to which the attachment isto be made is raised until the depression in cross-bar is directly overpin-hole. This throws its accompanying linkprop to thet'ront. The headofthe pin is placed in the steadier, the flange in the depression, andthe pin remains for the time in suspension. The car can be moved withoutdisturbing the perpendicularity ofthe pill. As the ca'rscome togetherthe linkprops meet and, yielding to light pressure, pass underneaththeir respectp ive draw-heads, the pinprop is thrown back, the pin`falls, and the coupling is complete. To prevent, where draw-heads areot different heights, one link-prop passing over the other, a piece ofmetal is attached to cross-bar of each link-prop, extending below it.VThis insures the linkprops striking.

The steadier can be utilized to draw pin by passing a cord through itstop as a fiulcrum, cord attached to head of pin. This relquiresa lbraceto steadier across draw-head and near its top, attached of course todraw-head. This `invention is applicable to present form of drawheads ingeneral use, being attached by two bolts on each side ot' a draw-head,and can be fabricated and attached at any forge by any Witnesses:

J oHN F. MORRISON, J oHN. W. HEALEY.

